Party continues on the three day ride to Ravenswatch watch tower, stopping at the way point station one days ride out of Winterhaven.

The party detects the faint scent of death as they approach the door of the barn. After managing to slip in an axe shaft to lift the interior locking beam, the party pulls the barn doors open only to be hit with a stronger stench of death.

The Party finds a corpse of a decomposed elf, possibly half elf, in a rear bunk. This is surprising as elves are rare in this part of the continent. The “elf” is well equipped with high grade elven leather armour, longbow, dagger, and short sword. They decide to bury the elf with it’s armour on and keep the Longbow, dagger, and short sword in hopes of giving them back to elves..

They do keep a silver serving tray inscribed with runes, both on the platter and lid, found in the Elf’s backpack. Showdan identifies the runes as elvish and magical. Showdan is surprised at her arcane knowledge. They also keep 6 gold, 22 silver found on the elf.

The party secures the barn door with it’s thick locking beam again, and settles down to sleep for the night.

The Solarii have all but gone from the Freelands and the call for volunteers, adventurers, and mercenaries have gone out to help defend the realm as the winter comes to a close.

Showdan (a wilden from the far reaches of nature) Günther (a goliath from the mountain ranges), Riss (a githzerai from the Astral Plane), and Ulrin Copperheel (a dwarf from a local Clan) have responded and traveled to the walled town of Winterhaven to assist.

There, Lord Padraig has asked them to venture into the southern frontier to assess three important watch towers (Hilltop, Needlepoint, and Ravenswatch) that lie on the border between the farming lands of Winterhaven and wild Foglands across the Misty River.

Each tower is a three-day ride from Winterhaven and a three day ride from each other. Ravenswatch is a very small stone keep that can hold up to 30 men. Hilltop and Needlepoint are small wooden houses with wooden watchtowers.

Lord Padraig has also asked to check on how Farmer Woodswell and Farmer Maysmith have fared over the winter. The Woodswell farmhouse lays on the way to Hilltop. The Maysmith farmhouse lies on the path to Needlepoint.

Across the great Sea, the most powerful nation in the world, called Solaris, has suffered a catastrophic event, and all contact has been lost. The great Solarii Paladins & Magi have flocked home to determine the fate of their home country. None have returned. That was three years ago, and the small void in law and order is beginning to widened. The earth groans and shudders underfoot while crops produce below average yields.

In the Freelands, life goes on. It’s hearty folk push through adversity as they always have. But lately there is an unease. Crime is on the rise, and sightings of the savage races have increased ten fold. While politicians debate the right course of action, Fate has decided to step in and change the lives of ordinary citizens. For better or worse, change is on the horizon.

Every great story has to start somewhere. Let us start with some rules...

This is going to be a low magic campaign for the first Act (levels 1 thru 7 roughly). I’m going for a more gritty start that changes to a high magic campaign to finish. This doesn’t mean you can’t have magic.

Please pick a trade/profession background like farmer, aristocrat, cobbler, carpenter, etc. The spring thaw came 3 weeks late this year, and finally the weather is cooperating for travel. You all have business in a small town (deliver, to get goods, passing through on your way to xyz, stuck over the winter in the town,…and please, not everyone is a caravan guard).

There will be side plots that may lead you away from the main plot. It is up to you to take them or not. There may be consequences for doing or not doing.

There may consequences for your actions. Examples:
– Kill the mayor, get hunted down like dogs by law enforcement and await trial by judge. Hopefully that judge isn’t the Mayors brother.
– Some actions will have a positive effect on one group, and a negative effect on another group.
- An opponent gives up near the end of the fight. Do you take him into custody or kill him? that decision may come into question later on when dealing with people that knew him.

I want more of a Video Game/Mass Affect/SWTOR style of story, rather than an XP farm. The story should be compelling and reactive to character choices and the combat should be fun and interesting.

Obviously, this is not going to be epic the first couple of sessions as we try out Roll20 and that i haven’t even played in two years, or DM’d 4e.

A blog for your campaign

While the wiki is great for organizing your campaign world, it’s not the best way to chronicle your adventures. For that purpose, you need a blog!

The Adventure Log will allow you to chronologically order the happenings of your campaign. It serves as the record of what has passed. After each gaming session, come to the Adventure Log and write up what happened. In time, it will grow into a great story!

Best of all, each Adventure Log post is also a wiki page! You can link back and forth with your wiki, characters, and so forth as you wish.

One final tip: Before you jump in and try to write up the entire history for your campaign, take a deep breath. Rather than spending days writing and getting exhausted, I would suggest writing a quick “Story So Far” with only a summary. Then, get back to gaming! Grow your Adventure Log over time, rather than all at once.